• Client Login
  • Request a Demo
1-866-252-2373 [email protected]
Cadre Tech
  • Features
        • Cadre Technologies WMS Features

        • Receiving
        • Putaway
        • Inventory Management
        • Order Management
        • Multi Carrier Shipping
        • 3PL Billing
        • Reporting and Analytics
        • Kitting
        • Inventory Replenishment
        • Cycle Counting
        • Labor Reporting
  • Solutions
        • Cadre Technologies Solution

          Cadre Technologies is an industry leading innovator of warehouse management solutions and supply chain visibility tools for distribution, manufacturing, and 3PL, 4PL logistics operations.

          Our solutions can be installed on premise or hosted in the cloud. We are customer focused and want to find the best solution for you and your business.

        • Cloud Based WMS Solutions
        • Distribution & Manufacturing WMS
        • eCommerce Warehouse Management System
        • Supply Chain Visibility
  • Industries
        • Industries We Cover

        • 3rd Party Logistics
        • Cold Storage
        • Pharmaceuticals/Nutraceuticals
        • Wholesale and Industrial Distribution
        • 4PL Visibility
        • Food & Beverage
        • Consumer Packaged Goods
        • All Industries
  • Integrations
        • Wide Range of Integration Solutions

          At Cadre Technologies, our cutting-edge warehouse management system boasts unparalleled integration capabilities. We empower businesses to achieve seamless connectivity with a diverse array of applications and services.

          Whether you’re seeking to harmonize your operations with existing systems, seamlessly incorporate third-party applications, or embrace the future of warehousing through integration with automation technologies and warehouse robots, Cadre Technologies provides the robust integration solutions you need.

        • Accounting/ERP
        • Shipping
        • Ecommerce
        • Automation/Robotics
        • EDI
        • API
  • Services
        • Cadre Technologies Services

          Learn more about Cadre Technologies services and events including implementation, consulting, webinars, user conference, training, and software support.

        • Consulting
        • Implementation Services
        • Training
        • Software Support
  • Resources
        • Cadre Technologies Blog

          Don’t miss our recent updates. Subscribe to Warehouse Best Practices.

        • White Papers/Case Studies
        • Press Room
        • Blog
        • Videos
        • Data Sheets/Brochures
  • Company
        • Learn more about our company history, partnerships & associations, team and our dedication to providing the best WMS solutions for over 20 years.

        • About Cadre Technologies
        • Partners & Associations
        • Meet the Cadre Team
        • Customer Community
        • Contact Us
  • Insights
        • "Contrasting modern warehouse with manual operations and advanced Good Enough Tech automation."

          How Using ‘Good Enough’ Tech Impacts Your Business and Profits

          July 7, 2025 | By Christen Thomas

          "Holiday product sellers checklist in a bustling warehouse preparing for the season."

          Holiday Product Sellers Checklist for Success

          July 1, 2025 | By Christen Thomas

          "Contemporary furniture warehouse with styled displays and robotic logistics for online sales."

          Essential Tips for Successfully Selling Furniture Online in 2025

          June 16, 2025 | By Christen Thomas

          See More Blogs

  • Pricing
  • Menu Menu

White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management

White Papers/Case Studies
White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 1 - waving, wave pre-planning

Recognized. Trusted. Proven. See why Cadre made the Top IT Providers list—and how we can help you succeed| Learn More

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Warehouse distribution centers tend to be more successful if they are able to efficiently handle orders of any size, any volume, and from any source. Their competitive edge and higher profit margins come from their efforts to fulfill orders as quickly as possible, at the cheapest cost for the consumer.

Challenging that formula are increased client expectations that soon may require even faster processing. Ecommerce has made time sensitivity a priority issue for warehouse managers. Another is the ongoing labor shortage in the supply chain. High turnover rates and increased onboarding periods have created a talent gap at the warehouse level which has the potential to create a significant drag on order fulfillment. Add to this challenge the ever-changing and costly shipping landscape, and the problem even becomes more complex.

Wave pre-planning, also known as waving, is your best defense against all of these challenges and represents what is often regarded as the forgotten step in supply chain management. Waving gives companies the ability to establish a game plan for the orders before they are delivered to the warehouse floor for picking.

Here are 3 Ways Focusing on Waving Will Keep Your Operation Competitive Despite the Ongoing Challenges in the Industry:

1. Waving Saves Time

Waving is a value-added way to automate the grouping of orders by different criteria: level of priority, destination, customer, product attributes, or the time of day or day of the week the orders need to be picked for shipping. Many other criteria may be involved but the bottom line is preplanning done by waving has a huge effect on warehouse productivity.

There are a number of reasons why this saves time. Since picking can become the most intensive labor activity in your warehouse — taking up between five minutes to two hours for one pick — waving can reduce the workload by grouping similar orders for efficient processing. This becomes most helpful for temporary workers who may not be familiar with every corner of your warehouse, not to mention your products, customers, etc.

Secondly, waving shortens the time required to organize each grouping. If there are multiple orders for Walmart, for example, waving helps group them into a single pick for shipping. All forms of picking — Multi-order, zone, cluster, and pick and pass — all require proper waving to be effective.

Since picking can become the most intensive labor activity in your warehouse— taking up between five minutes to two hours for one pick — waving can reduce the workload by grouping similar orders for efficient processing

2. Waving Enables Efficiency

Preplanning your picks according to shipping time will create efficiency right off the bat. The reason for this is logical: If one order needs picking today and another order doesn’t need picking for two days, waving gets the higher priority order up front instead of wasting resources for an order where time is less of an issue. Today, this technique may even apply to a 24-hour, three-shifts-a-day warehouse. The point is the same.

Wave processing makes picking manageable by sequencing picks in groups according to your criteria of shipping requirements so the activity on your warehouse floor is balanced accordingly. Better yet is how wave processing can go further in allocating the extra time required for certain products. One example is how waving enables pickers to pick the same SKU all at once for pre-labeling of thousands of consumer orders versus a multi-SKU pick, which involves picking a larger order for a retail warehouse. Again, the key is grouping identical orders together!

3. Waving Strengthens Accuracy

Nothing spells more trouble for your warehouse operation than a shipment that contains incorrect items. Wave processing guards against that possibility by making sure your workers are confined only to areas in your warehouse dictated by your orders. If your temporary workers are trained to pick only one type of order, this keeps them focused and makes training easier and less costly.

Calibrating orders by only a certain kind of pick will not just shorten the time needed to get the items shipped, but it will also ensure your packages are picked the way your clients require. This not only increases your level of service, but limits warehouse costs at the same time.

What are your warehouse management needs?

Visit us at www.cadretech.com or call  +1 (303) 217-7030 to learn more about our warehouse management systems for 3rd Party Logistics (3PL), Manufacturers and Distributors and to set up a demo.

June 7, 2022/by Cadre

Recent Posts

  • "Contrasting modern warehouse with manual operations and advanced Good Enough Tech automation."How Using ‘Good Enough’ Tech Impacts Your Business and Profits
    July 7, 2025
  • "Holiday product sellers checklist in a bustling warehouse preparing for the season."Holiday Product Sellers Checklist for Success
    July 1, 2025
  • "Contemporary furniture warehouse with styled displays and robotic logistics for online sales."Essential Tips for Successfully Selling Furniture Online in 2025
    June 16, 2025

Table of Contents

Subscribe to Warehouse Best Practices


Recognized. Trusted. Proven. See why Cadre made the Top IT Providers list—and how we can help you succeed| Learn More

Ready to Learn More About Cadre’s WMS Solutions? Request a demo today

Success Stories

“Cadence WMS provides us real time data to allow us to monitor our daily activities in all of our warehouses. It has provided us the visibility to flex our staff across our network and also provides our clients the transparency they want into our daily operations.”

White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 4 - waving, wave pre-planning
Dave Jesse, COO, Bonded Logistics, Charlotte, NC

“We’ve used Cadre products for quite some time now. Their willingness to work with us to customize and connect to other systems and provide seamless solutions for our customers through their online tools has been invaluable. Logiview has been a cornerstone of our logistics platform for many years.
”

White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 5 - waving, wave pre-planning
ArcBest, Director, Supply Chain Solutions, ABF Logistics, An ArcBest CompanyFort Smith, AR

“Cadre’s software allows us to meet the changing requirements of our warehouse clients and helps us remain competitive with new opportunities. The people are great to work with because they are responsive and understand our business.”

White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 6 - waving, wave pre-planning
Paul Delp, President, Lansdale Warehouse Company, Lansdale, PA
More testimonials

Recent Articles

"Contrasting modern warehouse with manual operations and advanced Good Enough Tech automation."

How Using ‘Good Enough’ Tech Impacts Your Business and Profits

Blog
Evaluating the Impact of 'Good Enough' Tech on Business Efficiency and Profits In an era where technology investment decisions can make or break a company's competitive edge, the concept of "Good Enough Tech" has emerged as a pivotal discussion…
July 7, 2025
"Holiday product sellers checklist in a bustling warehouse preparing for the season."

Holiday Product Sellers Checklist for Success

Blog
Get ready for peak sales with our holiday product sellers checklist Learn essential steps for inventory, marketing, and customer service success
July 1, 2025
"Contemporary furniture warehouse with styled displays and robotic logistics for online sales."

Essential Tips for Successfully Selling Furniture Online in 2025

Blog
Discover how to effectively sell furniture online in 2025 with our comprehensive guide on market trends, technology, and strategic e-commerce practices.
June 16, 2025
More Articles

Denver Office
7900 East Union Avenue
Suite 1007
Denver, CO 80237
303-217-7030
[email protected]

Lenexa Office
8371 Melrose Drive
Lenexa, KS 66214
913-492-5700

White Paper: Why Wave Pre-Planning Will Improve Your Warehouse Management 7 - waving, wave pre-planning
Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Follow Us on Linkedin Follow Us on Youtube
  • Solutions
  • By Job Role
  • Company
  • Industries
  • Resources
  • Careers
  • Products
  • Services
  • Partners

Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Terms and Conditions |© 2025 Cadre Technologies. All rights reserved.

Link to: Case Study: Axis Global Link to: Case Study: Axis Global Case Study: Axis GlobalCase Study: Axis Global 2 - waving, wave pre-planning Link to: Case Study: BTS Link to: Case Study: BTS Case Study: BTS 3 - waving, wave pre-planningCase Study: BTS Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top